Higher Gas-Tax Idea Joins Fiscal-Cliff Talks

By

Josh Mitchell

Updated Nov. 23, 2012 9:47 a.m. ET

States and business advocates are maneuvering to use the current budget negotiations in Washington to win support for a long-sought increase in the federal gasoline tax—one of a grab bag of proposals various groups are seeking to tuck into a deal.

The White House and Congress are trying to craft a broad deficit-reduction deal to substitute for the so-called fiscal cliff, a $500 billion combination of tax increases and spending cuts set to begin Jan. 2. State highway officials and industries that stand to benefit from...